This invention relates generally to cable slides and, more particularly, to a cable management slide that permits a user to make lateral connections to removable rear access equipment.
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Removable rear access electronic modules or rack mounted equipment modules are well known in the art. Typically, the modules are slidable mounted so that the module can be removed and replaced from the housing supporting the modules. In order to provide for ease in removeability the access ports for the modules are located on the rear of the module. While rear access ports allow one to retain the removeability and replaceability of a module it is often times difficult to connect the module access ports to other modules in the housing if there is no rear access to the housing. That is, a user has to reach from the front of the cabinet housing to the rear of the cabinet housing in order to connect the modules ports at the rear of the housing, oftentimes without being able to actually see what he or she is doing.
The present invention provides an improvement to connecting modules by providing a cable management slide that slideably supports a module while at the same time carrying a cable from the rear of the module to a point lateral of the module where the module can easily be connected to another module or a power source through a flexible cable carrier that rollingly peels away from the slide as the module is displaced to allow a connecting cable carried thereon to maintain connectivity with the rear access ports of the module as the module is slid in or out of the cabinet housing.
Another problem encountered with removable mounted medules is that the power cables and the data transmission cables are bundled together to minimize clutter within the housing. In certain instance the power cables produce interference to the signals sent through the data transmission cables. The present invention provides means for spatially isolating the power cables and the data transmission cables to inhibit power cable interference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,621 shows an electric cable guiding device that includes two moveable blocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,894 shows flexible electric cable within a sheath.
Briefly, the invention comprises a cable management slide with a carrier that flexibly follows the displacement of a module into and out of a cabinet housing to allow the rear access ports of the module to be connected to connectors that are laterally and forwardly positioned with respect to the rear of the module. The use of cable management slides on opposite sides of the modules allows one to physically isolate the power cable for the module from the data line of the module thereby inhibiting or preventing electrical interference therebetween.